Voyager Flashback: The Killing Game, Part II

Though the two parts of Star Trek: Voyager's "The Killing Game" were made assuming they'd air over two weeks, network executives chose to make a "movie event" of it, originally airing both parts on a single night. In that spirit, I'm back just one day after my review of part one to discuss "The Killing Game, Part II."

Conflict with the Hirogen has spread beyond the holodeck, and now Voyager itself is at risk. But the crew soon regains their memory of their true identities, and Janeway figures out what the Hirogen leader is really after -- a way out of the stagnation he sees in his society. Perhaps diplomacy between them really is possible... unless the Hirogen second-in-command, emboldened by the Nazi ideology he's learning on the holodeck, sabotages the effort.

This episode picks up immediately where the first part left off (no doubt fueling that notion that it could work as a two-hour movie). With holoprojectors now installed all over the ship, it makes for some fun and unusual action for Star Trek -- Nazis loose on the ship, pistols and rifles in the corridors instead of phasers.

The early tension is fun; having some people aware of their identities when others aren't is compelling: Paris nearly kills his best friend Kim, while Janeway and Seven have to lie and manipulate their crewmates under Tuvok's suspicious eye. The latter situation is diffused (with the neural inhibitors being disabled) before it really comes to a boil, which is a little disappointing. On the other hand, watching the alter egos of Paris and B'Elanna play out a little soap opera over her holographic baby isn't really compelling, so the sooner that's abandoned, the better.

One of the more surprising elements of this episode to me is how Nazism isn't just used as a shorthand for "evil." A holographic character delivers a lengthy speech in which he lays out fascist, racist Nazi values with unvarnished intensity. This episode isn't just saying Nazis are bad guys, it wants to remind you why Nazis are bad guys. This in turn highlights the nobility of Hirogen leader Karr, who wants to show his people a better way.

The final showdown isn't as much about such heady subject matter, but at least it's fun. Klingon warriors attacking Nazis, what's not to like? Seven throws down a stone cold threat of assimilation as she refuses to do as the Hirogen wish. Janeway cleverly turns the tables in a classic "hunted becomes the hunter" situation. We get a huge "falling off a cliff" death. There's an epic rain storm -- real on the day they filmed outdoors and not planned for in the production.

But there are also elements of the episode that don't work so well for me. We get far too many scenes of Neelix and the Doctor wasting time with the Klingons; yes, you need at least one such scene in order to telegraph the ending, but it's expanded too much at the expense of more interesting story elements. Paris is stupidly goaded into a confrontation with a hologram over a baby that isn't even real. An unnecessary countdown is put on the destruction of the holoprojectors when it seems like they should, you know, just DO it.

Most of all: it's pretty silly, with Karr now dead, that any of the remaining Hirogen would honor the deal to take holotechnology and leave Voyager peacefully. Not to mention that this moment effectively writes the Hirogen out of the series until the final season. They've been too good for the show to dispense with them this quickly. (Think how long we suffered the far less compelling Kazon before they were finally ditched!)

Other observations:

• We learn that Klingon blood wine is twice as strong as whiskey. Though to me, that doesn't say "don't drink it," it just says "don't drink as much of it."

• On two occasions when holoprojectors are supposed to be disabled (one locally, one ship-wide), characters and objects vanish... but the city setting itself continues intact.

• Jeri Ryan later spoke of nearly breaking down when shooting this episode. The season had been difficult for her: dealing with early makeup calls and uncomfortable costumes, the star of the show instigating a feud with her. She says she was so exhausted, stressed, and constantly sick that when this episode brought on a late night shoot that forced everyone out into an unplanned downpour, it nearly pushed her over the edge and she actually contemplated whether staying on the show was worth it.

This episode hits some wonderful highs both in action and theme. But it has a few key flaws as well. So, like part one, I'll give it a B+. Regardless, both parts of "The Killing Game" do feel like a high point for the season.